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A 3‐year‐old male neutered Golden Retriever with nasal swelling and lymphadenopathy was diagnosed with diffuse Mycobacterium avium infection. Treatment with 9 months of enrofloxacin, clarithromycin and rifampicin was successful, but relapsed 10 months later with lymphadenopathy, skin plaques and testicular involvement. Repeat treatment for 12 months was effective but 15 months later a second relapse responded to the same therapy which is ongoing with survival from diagnosis of 82 months. A 1‐year‐old male neutered Portuguese Podengo was diagnosed with polyarthritis and M. avium infection and treated with enrofloxacin, clarithromycin and rifampicin for 4 months but relapsed, subsequently responding to combined pradofloxacin, rifampicin, doxycycline and ethambutol. After 12 months of treatment, M. avium was detected and treatment extended to 17 months before stopping when no organism was detected. Relapse occurred after 6 weeks, responding to retreatment but relapsing (polyarthropathy, lymphadenomegaly) after 15 months, with euthanasia 38 months after diagnosis. Dogs with M. avium are challenging to treat with frequent relapse; however, long‐term survival is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To assess variables contributing to hospital conveyance for people with diabetes and the interactions between them. A secondary aim was to generate hypotheses for further research into interventions that might reduce avoidable hospital admissions. Methods: A national retrospective data set including 30 999 diabetes‐related callouts from the Scottish Ambulance Service was utilized covering a 5‐year period between 2013 and 2017. The relationship between diabetes‐related hospital conveyance and seven potential risk factors was analysed. Independent variables included: age, gender, deprivation, paramedic attendance, treatment at the scene, first blood glucose measurement and day of the week. Results: In Scotland, hyperglycaemia was associated with a higher number of people being conveyed to hospital than hypoglycaemia (49.8% with high blood glucose vs. 39.3% with low glucose, P ≤ 0.0001). Treatment provided in pre‐hospital care was associated with reduced conveyance rates (47.3% vs. 58.2% where treatment was not administered, P ≤ 0.0001). Paramedic attendance was also associated with reduced conveyance to hospital (51.4% vs. 59.5% where paramedic was not present, P ≤ 0.0001). Paramedic attendance in hyperglycaemic cases was associated with significantly reduced odds of conveyance (odds ratio 0.52, P ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: A higher rate of conveyance associated with hyperglycaemic cases indicates a need for more resources, education and training in this area. Higher conveyance rates were also associated with no paramedic being present and no treatment being administered. This suggests that paramedic attendance may be crucial in reducing avoidable admissions. Developing and validating protocols for pre‐hospital services and treatment may help to reduce hospital conveyance rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To report on the outcomes of a pilot feasibility study of a structured self-management diabetes education programme targeting HbA1c. Methods We conducted a two-arm, individually randomized, pilot superiority trial for adults with intellectual disability and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 66 adults with disabilities across the UK met the eligibility criteria. Of these, 39 agreed to participate and were randomly assigned to either the DESMOND- ID programme ( n = 19) or a control group ( n = 20). The programme consisted of seven weekly educational sessions. The primary outcome was HbA1c level, and secondary outcomes included BMI, diabetes illness perceptions, severity of diabetes, quality of life, and attendance rates. Results This study found that the DESMOND- ID programme was feasible to deliver. With reasonable adjustments, the participants could be recruited successfully, and could provide consent, complete the outcome measures, be randomized to the groups and attend most of the sessions, with minimal loss to follow-up. The fixed-effects model, the interaction between occasion (time) and condition, showed statistically significant results (0.05 level) for HbA1c; however, the CI was large. Conclusion This is the first published study to adapt and pilot a national structured self-management diabetes education programme for adults with intellectual disability. This study shows it is possible to identify, recruit, consent and randomize adults with intellectual disabilities to an intervention or control group. Internationally, the results of this pilot are promising, demonstrating that a multi-session education programme is acceptable and feasible to deliver. Its effectiveness should be further tested in an adequately powered trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research is presented describing the changing demands on technological forecasting organizations and the need for integrated assessment tools which utilize experiences from other forms of science forecasting.